Russian civil war

Question 1

what areas did the Bolsheviks control + how was this helpful to them

Answer 1

• controlled the most densely populated areas of Russia, including Petrograd and Moscow
• Bolsheviks were able to conscript large numbers of men to fight the whites

Question 2

how much did the Red Army increase between 1919-1920

Answer 2

increased by 2million in one year

Question 3

what did the areas that the Bolsheviks control contain

Answer 3

• contained main armament factories which allowed the Bolsheviks to continually produce war materials
• there were weapon stores and ammunition dumps of the old Russian army
• controlled the historic capital of Petrograd and Moscow

Question 4

why was controlling Moscow important

Answer 4

• Moscow was the hub of the Russian railway network
• enabled Bolsheviks to move troops, munition and supplies to battlefronts with greater efficiency

Question 5

what were the geographical disadvantages of the whites

Answer 5

• scattered around the central area held by the Bolsheviks
• large distances between the white armies and no telephone links
• messages had to be conveyed through the use of officers on horseback
• so co-ordinating effective attacks against the Reds was very difficult

Question 6

what did the Whites underestimate the use of

Answer 6

underestimated the use of propaganda which the reds used a range of effective techniques of

Question 7

how was Bolshevik propaganda characterised by

Answer 7

• by powerful images that portrayed the new government offering the people of Russia a new fairer society and a brighter future for urban workers and peasants
• played on the fears of the Russian people, e.g. the elites taking away peasant land

Question 8

what was the effect of the intervention of foreign troops + how did it benefit the Reds

Answer 8

• although the whites benefitted from supplies, the intervention of foreign powers was ineffective
• it proved to be a successful propaganda coup for the Reds
• Reds portrayed themselves as defenders of Russian soil against foreign aggression, which appealed to the patriotic nature of the average Russian

Question 9

what was a popular technique utilised by the Bolsheviks

Answer 9

‘agitprop’ trains

Question 10

what were ‘agitprop’ trains

Answer 10

• carriages of trains were decorated with propaganda images
• carried film crews, theatre groups and Bolshevik activists and literature
• the trains would stop in villages and bolshevik activity would give literacy classes and distribute their literature
• movie projectors would be set up to show the latest propaganda films

Question 11

what facet of effective leadership did Lenin have + example

Answer 11

• ruthlessness
• as suggested in his telegram to the Bolsheviks in the Penza region who faced a peasant rebellion in 1918
• Lenin ordered the Bolsheviks to execute and expose the Kulaks

Question 12

who was Trotsky + how did he help

Answer 12

• superb military leader
• he was able to organise the red army
• and he could inspire the Red army’s men

Question 13

example of how Trotsky enjoyed Lenin’s confidence

Answer 13

• Trotsky convinced Lenin not to abandon Petrograd when it seemed it would fall to Yudenich
• Trotsky successfully organised its defence

Question 14

what did Trotsky re-introduce in the army + why

Answer 14

• re-introduced a strict command army
• he was aware that a clear chain of command was crucial and so committees were abolished
• also re-introduced former officers from the tsar’s army as they had command experience

Question 15

why was the re-introduction of a strict command army controversial

Answer 15

• one of the Bolshevik’s early decrees in 1917 abolished ranks
• it also led to the establishment of soldiers’ committees that elected officers from amongst themselves

Question 16

what did Trotsky assign to each military unit and what would they do

Answer 16

• each military unit would have a commissar, referred to as the ‘eyes and ears of the party’
• the commissars would monitor the behaviour of officers for any hint of treachery or counter revolutionary tendencies

Question 17

what did Trotsky’s specially adapted command train, which he used to travel between front, consist of

Answer 17

• radio command centre
• map room
• printing press
• specially modified armoured Rolls-Royce car for Trotsky’s use at the front line

Question 18

what was Trotsky’s train crucial for

Answer 18

crucial for transporting…
- his special troops
- engineers
- sanitary squads
- munitions and supplies to the fronts at which the Reds were under the greatest pressure from the army

Question 19

what new ideas did Trotsky introduce that improved Red’s fighting capacity and enhanced its sense of identity and unity

Answer 19

• organised an elite group of special troops, who were armed with state-of-the-art machine guns
• he had an eye for talent, promoting those who proved themselves regardless of time served
• he reintroduced conscription and strict discipline on the ranks

Question 20

how did Trotsky reintroduce strict discipline on the ranks

Answer 20

• soldiers who attempt to desert or sell their equipment on the black market would be shot
• when ordinary soldiers advanced, Trotsky would place his special troops behind them to shoot retreaters

Question 21

how did Trotsky maintain morale

Answer 21

• he was an outstanding speaker and motivator
• travelled between fronts
• possessed oratorical skills to inspire tired and hungry soldiers to continue giving their all to the Reds cause

Question 22

what did Lenin support Trotsky in and why

Answer 22

• supported Trotsky’s controversial reforms of the Red Army
• Lenin knew that organisation was key to success

Question 23

what is an example of an unpopular decision that Lenin made and why was it unpopular

Answer 23

• signing of the treaty of Brest-Litovsk
• many Russians viewed the terms of the treaty as humiliating and a too heavy cost to pay
• bolsheviks argued that they should continue to fight asa ‘revolutionary war’ aimed at spreading the Bolshevik revolution into other countries

Question 24

what was the consequence of signing the Treaty of Brest Litovsk

Answer 24

• generated significant hostility towards the Bolshevik government
• but allowed Lenin to concentrate the regime’s efforts on the defeat of the whites

Question 25

how did Lenin control the situation in September 1918 when the regime was facing anger and opposition

Answer 25

• launched a wave of repression known as the ‘red terror’
• Cheka stirred up class hatred and rounded up perceived counter-revolutionaries
• those arrested would receive arbitrary justice
• people of all social and political backgrounds were rounded up
• Bolsheviks established a series of labour and concentration camps

Question 26

how many executions were there during the war

Answer 26

13,000, although the real figure was higher

Question 27

although Lenin’s policy of war communism had disastrous long-term consequences, what was it’s short-term successes

Answer 27

it was able to supply the Red Army and cities with enough resources to enable the Bolshevik regime to survive during the worst year of the civil war

Question 28

disadvantage of the white leadership

Answer 28

• white leaders were second-rate
• unable to maintain discipline, clear chains of command, or inspire their men in battle

Question 29

what was the southern volunteer army, assembled under Denkin, largely made up of + what did they hope for

Answer 29

• made up of officers of the old army that had lost their livelihoods, land and property under the Bolsheviks
• hoped that the Don Cossack people that lived in the region would fight alongside them

Question 30

what was a negative aspect of the cossacks joining the Southern Volunteer Army’s fight

Answer 30

• cossacks maintained separate units
• disobeyed orders from SVA’s central command
• Cossacks were reluctant to go further into central Russia once their homelands had been secured

Question 31

what was the Red’s one clear aim

Answer 31

to maintain their grip on power

Question 32

how was morale high following in the Red army

Answer 32

• it was high flowing after the successful seizure of power
• Bolsheviks were optimistic about building a new utopian society in Russia and spreading the workers’ revolution to other nations

Question 33

how were the whites ideologically divided

Answer 33

various groups made up the loose coalition and they all had different visions of how Russia would be governed

Question 34

what were the various groups that made up the white coalition + what were their visions of how Russia would be governed

Answer 34

• other socialist parties, such as SRs and Mensheviks wanted the constituent assembly to form the basis of Russia’s government
• monarchists wanted to see the autocracy restored
• former officers favoured a military dictatorship and wanted to restore order and suppress socialists

Question 35

whose support did the whites fail to win

Answer 35

the support of national minorities who wanted independence from Russia, or at least a greater degree of autonomy

Question 36

what did the monarchists, former officers of the old Russian army and the Kadets want

Answer 36

wanted to restore the Russian empire with its pre-1917 borders

Question 37

why was the policy of the whites to restore the Russian empire with its pre-1917 borders damaging

Answer 37

as the whit armies were operating in areas populated by these minorities, such as Ukraine

Question 38

why was the support of peasants important

Answer 38

they supplied the bulk of men to fight in both sides’ armies

Question 39

although the peasants had little affection to either side, how did Lenin win the support of the peasants

Answer 39

legitimised the peasants seizure of land from the large estates in his Decree of land

Question 40

what did the Whites do that angered the peasants

Answer 40

• whites made it clear that they would restore the land to its former owners
• Denkin helped landowners recover their estates in the south
• in the east, Kolchak gave estates to landlords who didn’t own them previously
• brutality of the whites

Question 41

what is an example of the brutality of whites which antagonised the peasants

Answer 41

in the south, Cossack members of the white forces pursued ethnic-cleansing by driving non-cossack peasants from their land

Question 42

what did the whites represent

Answer 42

a return to the old tsarist system

Question 43

although war communism caused suffering amongst the population, why did the peasants and workers still support the Red Army

Answer 43

peasants and workers wanted to protect the gains of 1917 and the Reds seemed to offer the peasants and workers best chance of achieving this